Fun with Mick and Mary Jane

Speaking off the toque: Mickey Kapoor

Mickey Kapoor, who says his titles at the popular restaurant Khyber North Indian Grill [2510 Richmond, (713)942-9424] as "emperor extraplenipotentiary, tsar ... and small-but-not-petty tyrant." As for his qualifications to wear the toque, Kapoor states, "I have attended a culinary school, somewhere."

Q: Upon recently rereading the 1894 report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, we were intrigued by the many recipes. (Some background: The commission was charged by the British government with studying the effects of cannabis, known in Hindi as ganja, on the population of colonial India.) There were recipes for sweetmeats such as ganja halva, ganja cookies and cooling beverages such as ganja lassi. We are curious -- if cannabis were to be legalized in the United States, would you consider using it in some of the dishes served at your restaurant?

A: How do you know we don't use it now? How is it, do you think, that we have so much repeat business? Let them [DEA agents] come. I don't care.